Ten of the 14 water systems in Ohio that had advisories for lead contamination in effect last week had not properly notified people that their drinking water was tainted, a review of Ohio Environmental Protection Agency records shows.

And although those notifications were generally supposed to take place in October or November, it wasn’t until last week in most cases that the EPA issued violations.

Most of the systems are small and provide drinking water to fewer than 100 residents or provide water in places where employees or visitors do not rely on the system for all their drinking water. Some are schools; others are mobile-home parks and a day-care center. One is Holden Arboretum in northeastern Ohio. The Ohio EPA said all customers have been notified.

For the purposes of testing, the state EPA classifies as a water system any place that serves water to at least 15 connections or to the same 25 people a day at least 60 days a year.

The Mahoning County village of Sebring is the largest of those systems, serving more than 8,000 people. The village has become a symbol of failure by both the local and state governments to warn residents about unsafe drinking water.

Although tests last summer showed that the water in Sebring could be contaminated with lead, the local water system did not tell customers until the Ohio EPA forced it to do so in January. According to records, the Ohio EPA knew about the contamination as early as October but also failed to warn residents.

The episode has spurred legislation in Columbus and Washington to force water systems and state agencies to issue prompt warnings. Two Ohio EPA employees were placed on paid administrative leave pending a state investigation. Sebring’s water administrator has been suspended.

The agency also re-examined other public water systems in Ohio with lead advisories, and it found that only four had properly notified their customers of potential hazards. The others had not notified customers in time.

Mike Baker, chief of the Ohio EPA’s Division of Drinking and Ground Waters, said he called each water system this month and asked operators to resend information to their customers notifying them that tests had shown unsafe levels of lead and detailing risks for pregnant women and children.

Hillside Mobile Home Park near Mansfield provides drinking water to 98 people, according to the EPA. Tests in August showed elevated levels of lead.

But Mike Yoh, who owns Hillside, said an email glitch prevented him from getting test results in a timely manner. That kept him from notifying his residents in time, he said.

A letter from the EPA to the mobile-home park sent on Dec. 2 lays out the timeline for when Yoh and others needed to warn the public. But the letter said that notification had to be made by Nov. 30.

Heidi Griesmer, an EPA spokeswoman, said public water systems should know when to notify the public. Still, she said the agency is working on recommendations to require quicker public notification.

Yoh said the initial test that showed high lead was conducted incorrectly and that levels are safe now.

“When they went back and tested subsequently, everything was fine,” he said.

Melanie Houston, director of water policy and environmental health for the advocacy group Ohio Environmental Council, said every community deserves better — “regardless of size, regardless of how much money they make. There needs to be government accountability at all levels here.”

Mark Gillispie | Associated PressPallets of water, ready for distribution in the community, sit at the Sebring Community Center late last month in Sebring, Ohio. The Mahoning County village has become a symbol of failure by both the local and state governments to warn residents about unsafe drinking water.

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